Former state official runs for new office

Thursday

BATON ROUGE — It has been 12 years since Scott Angelle's name has appeared on a ballot, but he's seeking voter approval once more in his bid to capture the local seat on the Public Service Commission.

BATON ROUGE — It has been 12 years since Scott Angelle's name has appeared on a ballot, but he's seeking voter approval once more in his bid to capture the local seat on the Public Service Commission. “Whether it's like riding a horse or a bicycle, you just get back on and it comes back to you,” he said. “I enjoy retail politics. I like talking with people and going to meetings for organizations and clubs.” Angelle, 50, was the first St. Martin Parish president, serving from 2000 to 2004, and prior to that he was an elected member of the parish police jury. Since then, Angelle's public service has been defined by two governors. Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, appointed Angelle as natural resources secretary in 2004, a position he relinquished to run for the PSC. He was reappointed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, in 2008 and eventually switched his party affiliation from Democrat to match the governor's party. Jindal also tapped Angelle to serve as interim lieutenant governor for seven months in 2010 and more recently appointed him to the LSU Board of Supervisors. But Angelle, a native of Breaux Bridge, said the job he really wants is the PSC's 2nd District, which links the Houma-Thibodaux region with portions of Acadiana and the Capital City.The district encompasses all of East Feliciana, Iberia, Lafayette, Lafourche, St. Mary, Terrebonne and West Feliciana parishes. It likewise includes certain precincts in East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston, St. Martin and West Baton Rouge parishes. The local seat is being left vacant by Jimmy Field, a Baton Rouge Republican, after 16 years of service. Four others besides Angelle want to replace him. Also on the Nov. 6 ballot are Republican Sarah Holliday of Baton Rouge; Greg Gaubert, a Thibodaux independent; state Rep. Erich Ponti, R-Baton Rouge; and Democrat Forest Wright of New Orleans, an energy policy consultant. A runoff, as needed, is scheduled for Dec. 8. Going from natural resources secretary, which regulates energy production, to the PSC, which regulates public utilities and motor carriers, was a “natural move,” Angelle said, and it further builds on his own background working in the oil and gas industry. “The Public Service Commission operates at the intersection of the three E's: energy, environment and economy,” he said. “It's main function is to ensure that the public has access to reliable, low-cost energy. If we want to continue growing Louisiana's economy, creating new and better jobs, we need both.”If elected to the PSC, Angelle said he hopes to be involved in many of the same issues he tackled while at the Department of Natural Resources. For example, he said one of the programs he oversaw helped consumers achieve better energy efficiency in their homes. Through his campaign, he has promised to “protect Louisiana energy from overburdening federal regulations, such as the recent oil moratorium, and work to ensure low-cost energy for all of Louisiana.” Angelle said he would also keep an open mind on all policy issues that come before the PSC. “I'll have a balanced approach as a regulator,” he said. “I'll be an effective regulator, which is really the starting point for this job.” He disagrees with some of the other candidates on whether the fees and penalties the PSC collects should be used for regulation and related operations or, as many lawmakers have argued, should be turned over to the state. Angelle said fine money should go into the state general fund and legislatively created fees should go to the PSC. As a commissioner, Angelle said his top priority will be to delve into the proposed transmission changes for Entergy, which the PSC will vote on shortly after the new member is seated next year. Entergy wants to transfer management of its transmission lines to an Indiana cooperative and possibly sell all of its interconnected transmission lines and substations in five states to a Michigan company.Angelle said the decision will literally decide what consumers pay for electricity in the near future and how and when the electrical grids are updated. Above all else, he said he wants to make sure the money that has been put into the system by ratepayers has some kick of return on investment. “I want to look at the specifics and see how much money is involved and how much money the state and federal governments have spent,” he said. “We can already say we have some of the best levee protection on the planet, and we should be able to say the same thing about this.” In that same vein, Angelle said he would also take office with intentions of making sure electric grids near the coast are prepared for major Gulf storms. During his ongoing campaign, he has been critical of how utilities handled the recovery process following Hurricane Isaac. Angelle said he is “uniquely qualified” on this front. As natural resources secretary, he led the effort to dedicate oil revenues to finance the coastal restoration and hurricane protection, and he helped create the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the state's guiding coastal body.While voters in the southern portion of the district may recognize Angelle from his presence on coastal restoration, hurricane protection and energy issues, some of those in the western portion know him from his last name. His father, J. Burton Angelle, was a former state lawmaker and served as Department of Wildlife and Fisheries secretary under former Gov. Edwin Edwards. “I've been thinking about him a lot lately,” he said of his father. “He was a businessman who served his church and loved his family. I was always proud of him.” In 2010, Angelle was named the Louisiana Wildlife Federation's “Professional Conservationist of the Year,” the same award his father earned in 1973. “In a lot of ways I'm following in his footsteps,” Angelle said in an earlier interview, after receiving the award. “I'm putting public service first.”

Jeremy Alford can be reached at jeremy@jeremyalford.com.

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